To the Father of Brock Turner

Are you proud?

Are you proud of your son’s actions, of what he chose to do? Do you feel that you brought him up well?

What you called “20 minutes of action” is years of healing for a young woman. It is countless sleepless nights, tears, a lot of anguish and grief. What you called “20 minutes of action” is what women fear the most.

I want to ask you one thing, Mr. Turner. I want you to think of the women in your life- your mother, your sister, your wife, your friend, whoever. Imagine them coming to you and telling you that they had been raped.

Would you tell them it was just “20 minutes of action”? Would you tell them it was all their fault, no matter if there was alcohol involved or not?

You call yourself a parent, so I’m asking you to act like one. You are a father- so imagine being in the shoes of the father of the woman your son raped. Imagine your daughter coming home to tell you that she had been raped while unconscious, behind a dumpster, and had foreign objects forced inside her. Would you still tell her that it was just “20 minutes of action”?

While you are lamenting your son’s lost of appetite, this woman is lamenting the loss of the carefree life she once had, her peace of mind and her willingness to trust.

People do not spontaneously become rapists. They are raised to become that.

So I ask you, Mr. Turner, are you proud of your son? Are you proud of how you raised him?

I can guarantee you that the woman your son raped wishes you had taught him differently. I can guarantee you that there are thousands and thousands of women just like her, that have been raped by sons just like yours. I can guarantee you that they wish that whoever had raised them had taught them that any kind of violence against women is not okay.

If this happened to your son, would you tell him to get over it because it was just “20 minutes of action”?